Step 7: The good people from Ass Savers have been in touch!

This instructable takes a huge chunk of inspiration from a pre existing lightweight rear mudguard that is already commercially available. I have adapted the design slightly and, in addition, created a small guard for the front wheel. These mudguards are small enough to keep in the bottom of your bag for whenever you may need them AND this whole instructable cost me only £1!!!

Step 1: Find your material!

You need to find a suitable plastic material with which to build your mudguard. I considered using the thin plastic sheeting that document folders are constructed from however i decided it could end up being a little flimsy. I found this multi pack of flexible kitchen cutting boards in a super market for £3. The material that they are made from is flexible, strong and light. A single cutting board will be enough to make both front and rear mudguards.

<p>I to all, many thanks for your DIY, hope my rear tyre 27.5&quot; x 2.25 don't be a problem.</p><p>I've made it from an old notebook, with small waves on it, the material is very hard!</p>

<p>OK, so my creation clearly does not work. There's as much mud on it as under it. I think it a seat height thing but I can't change that. My version is even longer than the one in the instruction. Any ideas?</p>

<p>Hi Hardenheavy,<br>Great to see a picture! Sorry to hear it's not working properly. I wonder if it's to do with the tread of your tyres? Perhaps the water is spraying of at a funny angle. Did you get a muddy back or bum?! Lol. <br><br>You can buy these funny longer style folding mudguards (called Quickfix mudguard) that are made of the same material. They sit closer to the wheel. Perhaps you could create an intractable for a copy of one of those.<br></p>

<p>Thank you very much</p>

Just found these clever designs and was thinking i might try printing a design on some light card, then laminating it... Well done folks!

Like the Andre the Giant sticker...

<p>excellent idea! I built my fixie last Friday and as rain is forecasted for tomorrow I needed a mudguard solution urgently. I didn't have the right material, so I had to improvise a bit with plastic that isn't flexible enough (long live duck tape :)</p><p>can't wait to go to a local &quot;dollar shop&quot; and get some suitable plastic to make mudguards!</p><p>thanks for posting!</p>

<p>boss idea thanks</p>

<p>Thank's a lot for this awesome idea)</p>

<p>Hi Olagio!<br>Wow! Great to see your pictures! Thanks very much for sharing. The front mudguard attached to the shifters is genius!</p>

<p>Thank you! I would never did it without your invention)</p>

<p>Hey, to make your DIY Ass Saver a little bit easier we would like to contribute with the template for cutting. It's a bit old but should work fine: <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1349040/SmartAss_template.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1349040/SmartA...</a></p><p>The material used is 0.8 mm Polypropylene and the easiest way to source it is to find one of those plastic A4 binders: <a href="http://www.donsideplastics.co.uk/graphics_files/a4-landscape-binders.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://www.donsideplastics.co.uk/graphics_files/a4...</a></p><p>Sincerly</p><p>Ass Savers Team</p>

<p>Ha Ha! <br>That's fantastic! I was almost certain that you'd be in touch at some point to ask me to take it down! I'll add the template and materials to the step by step guide ASAP. I'm sure all my fellow instructable members will be very grateful. <br>Many Thanks! </p>

<p>Great instructable - long live La! Fixie!.</p>

I just used an empty plastic Celebrations chocolate tub. It did say 'reuse me' on the side.

Nice one, thanks!

The design works great, thanks! <br> <br>I tried it with the Dr&auml;lla chopping boards from IKEA (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50153123/?query=dr%C3%A4lla). It worked great for the first few weeks, but at some point the platic just broke at two points because it was under constant tension. Now I made it out of a plastic file which has a much thinner plastic. Lets see how that works out!

Thats fantastic! <br>Always good to hear of people having some success. The plastic file is a great idea, I imagine that it's a better long term solution. The handy thing is that they only take seconds to make with a thinner material so it doesn't really matter even if they do brake! Winter is swiftly on its way so I will be making much more use of mine as well. Well Done!

This really works!!! Thanks for the idea!

It's rainy season now here in the Philippines...this idea is just what i have in mind! good thing it turned out I have some flexible kitchen cutting boards stored in our kitchen cabinet...I will post soon if the mudguards really work well...am excited to start on this project!

Fantastic! <br>Can't wait to see how you get on with it. Best of luck with your build!

Have you thought of using zip ties instead of rubber bands? Id prob keep mine on all the time cause it rains here too often. Great idea! Thanks!

Excellent suggestion, I like to remove mine but zip ties are fantastic for this sort of thing. Cheers!

Oh, sweet snaparoni, soons I get home after my McDinner, I'ma gonna try this with some of the stiff ol' roof rubber I've got! Thanks :)

Excellent, post some pictures when you're finished!

excelente idea!

Thank you very much GarGon! <br>

Well played. I love flexiboards, they are very versital ! <br> <br>Great job...now i wish i hadnt sold my fixie :(

They are fantastic aren't they! I never worked with it before but it certainly did the job.

Don't forget to vote for me in the 'Great Outdoors' and the 'BIkes and Wheels' contests! <br>Thank you